Scott writes about Internet competition and threats to tech capitalism (economic regulation, property infringement, and harmful industry behavior and misrepresentation.) Cleland is President of Precursor® LLC, a Fortune 500 research consultancy focused on the future of Internet competition, privacy, security, property rights, innovation and algorithmic markets. Scott Cleland is author of the book: “Search & Destroy: Why You Can't Trust Google Inc.” www.SearchAndDestroyBook.com. Cleland also authors the widely-read www.PrecursorBlog.com; publishes www.GoogleMonitor.com; and serves as Chairman of www.NetCompetition.org, a pro-competition e-forum supported by broadband interests. Eight Congressional subcommittees have sought Cleland’s expert testimony and Institutional Investor twice ranked him the #1 independent telecom analyst in the U.S. when he was working for institutional investors. See a full bio at www.ScottCleland.com.

9/27/2011 @ 5:58PM810 views

Google's Extreme Makeover of its Heritage

In the latest episode of Google’s Extreme Makeover, Google’s outside antitrust counsel, Susan Creighton did her best to dress Google up as “an icon” of the free market, at a briefing for right-of-center bloggers at the conservative Heritage Foundation today in Washington, by spotlighting Google’s record of transparency, of no switching costs and providing free services to consumers.

When I asked if, Google as a self-described “free market icon,” “believes a free market depends on respect for property rights and the rule of law” – initially Ms. Creighton just ignored the question. When pressed in my follow-up question “if Google’s property infringement and legal record comports with its representation as a “free market icon,” Ms. Creighton, doubled down and characterized Google’s corporate record as “exemplar.” When pressed further, about whether Google’s copying of fifteen million books without permission of the copyright owners and making them available to the world via a variety of Google money making purposes, Ms. Creighton tripled down on her stance and said that Google Books was “fair use;” that the world’s authors and publishers were being “copyright absolutists;” and ironically she even absolutely promised: “We are 100% sure we will win” the Google Books case.

After almost completely ignoring free market entities like The Heritage Foundation (which unlike Google is actually worthy of being considered a free market icon), for its first thirteen years of existence, Google is engaged in an emergency, politically-expedient, extreme makeover to try and get free market conservatives to rescue Google from their own reckless disregard for the rule of law and for the property and privacy of others.

Google’s problem here is that their Extreme Makeover is not authentic; it is obvious self-serving political expediency. Google is also being deceptive in its free market charm offensive; it is pleading for protection from law enforcement action, while omitting the reasons and evidence of why they are under investigation for breaking multiple laws in the first place. Free market proponents need to know Google has an ignominious track record of scoffing at the rule of law and trampling on the property rights of others – over a period of many years. For a brief synopsis of Google’s embarrassingly long rap sheet see a previous Forbes Tech Capitalist post entitled: “Google 21st Century Robber Baron” (it sports 79 supporting links of evidence for the skeptical reader.)

In sum, it appears Googleopoly has grown so accustomed to being able to dictate to everyone which information they should accept as most relevant, that they have scant self-awareness when their message does not pass the laugh test with a principled audience that was not born yesterday.

Sadly, the facts show Google has a perverse definition of a “free” market, i.e. one where everything it wants is “free” for the taking without the permission of, or payment to, its property owners.

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